0006: Early Days in The Netherlands

I really love cats. I've been in The Netherlands from the 2nd of June and it has been a nice time. Everyone's been nice to me and have been taking care of me and that makes me all fuzzy inside. I've also been thrown into this diet thing and have lost approximately two kilograms in 6 days. I thought it was good but apparently, I learned from Ben's mom that it was not a good diet to be doing. And so, tomorrow we'll be adding some other foods into our diet and maybe that will end up pretty good.

And I got to eat fresh strawberries from Ben's mom's garden! They were pure heaven! The taste itself wasn't strong but the juice and the freshness of it cannot be compared! The ones in supermarkets just taste really weird.

I've also been walking for a bit in the last two days. It's 1.5 kilometers to the destination and 1.5 kilometers back. Sometimes I also end up going to a shop that's only about 600 meters from the place I'm staying at. So, on the same day, I might have gone for approximately 2 kilometers. It's a nice feeling after I've finished walking especially when I'm walking with Ben or helping out his mom.

There was a time during the week that we went to the city center of Alkmaar and had the chance to see the markets that were out there that day. We were lucky enough to find that there was an exhibition going on in St. Laurens Church, also known as the Big Church. Some of the works were a little amateurish but there was one artist that caught my eye. Her work, although professional looking, were priced cheaply compared to the amateurs that have priced their work double hers. I feel like a lot of people should have bought her paintings. I wish she gets a lot of commissions and a lot of people buying her stuff!

I've finished reading the book A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami. It was one of the best books I've read. I really recommend it to people. Of course, this just means I need to pick up that book I brought along to read. Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl. I've heard a lot about Anne Frank but I've never looked into her history or read anything on her. During history class, the teacher fleetingly mentioned her name but because I jumped from school to school, I never really got to learn about European history much. I'm going to have to try and finish reading this book by the next week because I'm thinking about going to Amsterdam to go and visit the Anne Frank House/Museum. Hopefully I can finish reading before we actually get there.

Ben's mom has been shouting from her bedroom, talking about places where we could go. Apparently, there's this place that makes chocolate out of horse milk. I'm actually intrigued. I really do want to go but Ben isn't too keen on it. There was also an opening day for a dairy farm. I know, I'm a little weird but I am really interested!

Oh, today, when we were taking that 1.5 kilometer walk to the bigger shops, we were talking about Pedobear and how he'd look like if he were kinda' human. We were so disgusting… I like that! Hehe~

And if I were to get glasses again, I want to get ones like these!

Maybe I should help with the cleaning again tomorrow.

No Numbered Notes today.

0005: A Day Before The Flight

Hello! Hello!

Well, today was such a busy day. I woke up later than I thought I would and had to hurry out. My grades for one of my course modules are out! I received a good grade and I'm alright with it although I would have liked it if it were just a little more than what it is now.

Right after picking up that piece of paper(1) I headed towards the real estate agency to get my passport photocopied. Now, I was squirming like hell when I was in their office. It's not that I hate offices or dislike being in a real estate agency; it's more of a "I dislike being in that particular agency."(2) Long story short, they messed up in a precious contract that had me lose a approximately £150.(3) They made me homeless for three whole weeks. I'm glad I still had a friend who was able to lend me their room while they were away!(4) But enough of that. The past is the past. The present and the future is what really counts.

When the squirming was over and done with, I went to the bank to change my home address (effective at a certain date). Not only that, I had to close a past bank account that I had and transfer money(5) out of it! The woman who took care of the bank account closure and I had a laugh about it. I don't understand why it was still active since I already closed the account way before I left in 2004.(6)

I was there for a while, almost half an hour but I had the time. After buying a bit of food, drink and new soles for my shoes(7), I went straight home to start on the packing. I had a 20kg allowance so I decided to stuff the bag with a lot of clothes. Hopefully, it doesn't go over the limit. I'm using a big suitcase so I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow or I'll be forced to use the taxi. Going up the hill with a large suitcase while raining is not fun especially when you have to walk by a main road. Some drivers are very inconsiderate of pedestrians and don't care about puddles! It has happened to me before and it was not very nice of the driver. He saw me waiting for other cars to drive past the puddle. When it was my turn to walk, he quickly swerved his car from that junction and splashed the damn puddle on my jeans! So mean!

Also, have I told you guys that I've been playing this game called Fallout 3(8)? I already completed the game but I have the need to re-play it but this time, I'd like to complete most of the quests that I didn't get to complete before. Playing this game, it made me want to write a story based on post-nuclear wastelands!

Well, anyway! Holiday to The Netherlands! So close! I really can't wait! Packing's all done so all I need to do tomorrow is just go, go, go!

/*Numbered Notes*/
(1) It's not the official paper so I just stuffed it into my bag without care.
(2) Some people know who they are. Everyone who has mentioned the name of the agency would have heard me mumble the word 'bloody' before it.
(3) It was non-refundable but I'm still a little bitter about it.
(4) A friend from abroad came over to visit me and I was hoping to have the house before then. It was another reason why I loathed the agency.
(5) It was only fourteen pence.
(6) I was here for my GCSEs then. Now I'm here for my Bachelors Degree.
(7) They were so worn out that there was a hole in the sole!
(8) I've played the series before it as well. I'm in love with Fallout!